Panel wall



Feb. 21, 1933.

A. H. WILKINS PANEL WALL Filed May 5, 1932 My/mm 64A A TTORNEYS PANEL WALL lFiled may 5, 1952 esmas-sheet 2 Nlliiiilililiiii Patented Feb. 21, 1933 UNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR I-I. WILKINS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA PANEL WALL Application led May 5, 1932. Serial No. 609,394.

This invention relates broadly to walls Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view adapted to be built up in front of rough or of a front panel or slab showing a device, unfinished walls or structures in order to embodying the invention, for holding or give a pleasant, or pleasing artistic finish. securing a panel or slab in place, a portion 5 Specifically, the invention relates to inauof said device being broken away in order 55 soleums, and more particularly toV removto illustrate the operative relation of the able finish slabs or panels foi' the fronts of component parts thereof in respect to each burial crypts and to concealed ineans for other and to the slab or panel; y Y supporting and holding said inish slabs or' Fig. 5 is a View in section taken onA line panels inplace. V- V of Fig. l;

in object of this invention is the provi- Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in sion of a dress or finish wall that may be Section, of a front panel and crypt partition built up of individual slabs or panels which Wall Showing the fastening and supporting may be individually removed and replaced, B19/ins for the panel in side elevation; and

and in which the means for supporting and 7 1S a1i eXploded fragmentary view, 65 retaining them in place shall be concealed l perspective, of a panel and a fastening from View or securing means, showing the operative Another object of this invention is the relation of said means and the panel when provision of means whereby finish slabs or the panel is about to be mounted in place 20 panels, fmI the fronts of burial crypts, may and locked in such position by said means. 70 be supported and removably secured in Throughout the drawings and the speciplace, the slabs and said means being 50 fication like reference characters indicate constructed that, when mounted in place, like parts. the supporting and securing means shall be In inaiisoleums, burial crypts are usually A ful-they Object 0f the invention is the tally and vertically alined rows of individual provision of means for securing finish slabs C lypts, each of which are separated by parin place, that shall be hidden or concealed tllOD Walls. The crypts also have an open from View, but which may be operated to or @116i WhiCll iS Sealed up when a casket is from slab securing position from the fronts placed therein. 80

thereof Figs. l, 2, and 3 illust-rate a bank of burial Other objects of the invention will, in Crypte 10 which are separated by vertical par@ be apparent and will, in part, be Obpartition walls ll, rear end walls l2 and vious from the following description taken hOllZOIltal partition walls 13, the fronts of 3 in conjunction with the accompanying drawl the Crypts being open.v 85 ings in which: The horizontal partition walls forni the Figure l is a fragmentary view in from; ceilings of ciypts disposed in a horizontal elevation of a bank or section of burial row and the floor of the crypts immediately A0 crypts, some of which are closed and proabove the saine, as is obvious from the drawv vided with front finish slabs, held in-place lng'S- The Walls mentioned above may be 90 by ingang 0f an embodiment of the nvenmade of concrete or other suitable building tion, and some of which are open, the inish material, concrete being the material illusslab supporting and securing means, emtrated. bodying the invention, being shown in full lVlien a casket has been placed in a crypt,

lines; the open front may be closed byplacing a 95 Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan sectional slab or closure 14 across the open end thereview taken on line I-H of Fig. l; of and cementing it in place to thereby seal Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section of the the crypt. To facilitate locating, positionbank or crypt taken on line IIL-IH of ing and cementing the closure in place, the Fig'. l; outer ends of the vertical and horizontal 100 hidden or concealed from view. constructed in banks comprising horizoncrypt partition walls 11 and 13 may be recessed or undercut as at 15 to accommodate the closure, and the sealing cement or substance indicated at 16.

The recesses are preferably of such depth that the outer faces or surfaces of the closures 14 will be flush with the outer ends of the horizontal and vertical partition walls 11 and 13 (see Figs. 2 and 3).

In the interest of economy, it is preferred to malte the closures or slabs 14 of concrete or rough unfinished or semi-finished material and to cover the fronts of the crypts with a false wall 17 of dress material, such as marble, or a moldable composition material having the appearance of marble. lVhile marble, or a composition having the appearance of marble has been mentioned, itis to be understood that any material, which will give a desirable and pleasing appearance, may be utilized.

in Vorder that access may be had to the individual crypte without moving or dismantling the entire ffalse or dress wall 17,

it is proposed to construct and assemble the wall from slabs or panels 18 of such size that the top, bottom and side edges thereof will lie along approximately the middle of the vertical and horizontal partition walls of the crypts, and 'thereby conceal the sealed joints formed between closures 14 and the partition walls of the crypts. The panels 18 may be individually7 mounted or supported on shelves or supports 19 bolted to the horizontal crypt walls and held in place by locking and retaining devices 20 and 21. Devices 2() and 21, as illustrated, are identical in construction, but have been given different reference characters for the purpose of making clear that each panel is locked or retained in place by two such devices, one indicated as 20 an the other as 21. 4Vflien the panels or slabs 18 are in place, devices 20 and 21 and the supports 19 are hidden or concealed from view.

In order to close the spaces or joints 23 between adjacent edges of the various panels 18, removable sealing strips 24 of yieldable material, such as rubber, or vcloth impreghated with rubber, may be placed between the edges of the panels near the front faces thereof as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. These joints may also be closed up with cement if desired, particularly if the joints are between panels associated with crypts which are occupied and sealed up.

The supports or shelves 19 comprise short pieces of angle bar having their vertical flanges bolted to the horizontal partition walls of the crypts. The finish slabs or panels 18 rest on the horizontal outwardly extending fianges of these supports 19. The horizont-al fianges extend outwardly at such a distance from the crypt walls that, when the panels are mounted thereon, as shown in Fig. 6, there will be suficient space between the panels 18 and the closures 14 to accommodate the locking and retaining devices 20 and 21. `When the panels are mounted in place, only a portion of the bottom edges of the panels rest on the horizontal flanges of the supports 19 so that the sealing strips 23, or cement, if used, will conceal the supports.

The supports are so located (see Fig. l) that the corners of adjacent panels 18 may be mounted thereon.

The locking and retaining devices 20 and 21 are illustrated more particularly in Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7. Since these devices are similarly constructed, a description of one will be sufficient for all, and similar and corresponding parts have been given the same reference characters.

Nith reference to Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 the locking and retaining devices as shown, each comprises outer stationary guide members 25 and 26, of substantially L-shape in transverse section, having therebetween a stationary spacer 27 comprising a relatively narrow strip of metal or suitable material, and a latch member 28 having a body part 29 of substantially L-shape in transverse section movably disposed between the outer guide members 25 and 26. The edge 30, of the body part 29, disposed adjacent to edge 31 of strip 27 has a lug 32 adapted to engage limit stops 33 and 34 formed at the top and bottom, respectively, of the strip or spacer 27. Thus, the latch V28 may be moved upwardly between the guides 25 and 26 until lug 32 engages stop 33, or downwardly until said lug engages stop 34.

The forward edge of the latch 28 has a flange 36 disposed substantially parallel to the front panels 18 adapted to be received in recesses 37 formed in the vertical edges of the front panels. An opening 39 is formed in the back face of each of the panels directly above the recesses 37, so that by raising the latches 28 until the flanges 36 are in line with openings 39, (see Figs. 4 and 7 and tilting the panels 18 to vertical position, the latches may be moved downwardly until the latch flanges 36, are in the recesses of the panels (see Figs. 5 and 6). Then the latch flanges are in the recesses, the slabs are locked and retained in place.

The latches 28 may be raised by merely passing a thin knife blade or similar meniber through the space between the adjacent panel edges, and under the latch flanges 38 and raising the blade. Each of the latches may be lowered by engaging the top of the ange 36 and pushing down on the same to lower it into the associated recess of the slab or panel.

There are two devices 20 and 21 on each vertical partition wall disposed one above the other, in reverse relation to each other so that one device cooperates with one panel 18 and the other device cooperates with an adjacent panel. However, in respect to each panel, the right side thereof, as seen in the drawings, is engaged by a device 20, and the opposite or left side is engaged by a device 2l.

The locking and retaining devices 20 and 2l are mounted on the front ends of of the vertical walls of the crypts and secured thereto with bolts in the relative positions indicated by the reference characters. The bolts which pass through the retaining device extend through the outer guide inembers 25 and 26 and the spacer strip 27, thereby holding the guide members and the spacer strip stationary but leaving the latch member free to be moved up or down between the limit stops in the manner aforementioned. Y

ln practice, the false or finish wall 17 is assembled complete from the individual panels 18 which are mounted and locked in Alace as described above. When a particular crypt is needed the front finish panel in front of such crypt is removed, the latches being first raised to the position indicated in Figs. 4l and 'T so as to disengage the latch flanges 36 and the recesses 37 in the panels. lifter placing the casket in the crypt selec'ed, the closure la is mounted in place and the front finish panel returned to its position and the latches returned to their locking positions as indicated in Fig. 6. By inserting sealing strips, either before or after the panels have been mounted in place, in the joints between the panels, the locking and retaining devices and the supports or shelves are concealed. lf the crypts have been sealed up, the joints between the front nish panels for such crypts, may be cemented up if desired, to permanently seal the joints.

While a preferred form and specific application for the invention have been herein shown and described, it will be apparent that various modiiications and changes may be made without departing either from the spirit or the scope of the invention. It is desired, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed on the invention as are imposed by the prior art and the appended claims.

W hat l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. r-i wall structure comprising a plurality of horizontally disposed vertically spaced stationary supports, individual wall panels mounted on said supports, and means behind said panels adapted to releasably lock and retain said panels on the supports.

2. A wall structure comprising a plurality of horizontally disposed vertically spaced stationary supports, individual wall panels mounted on said supports, means behind stationary supports, individual wall panels` mounted forwardly of and on said supports, and means behind said panels adapted to coact with said panels to releasably lock and retain the panels on the supports.

4. A wall structure comprising a plurality of horizontally disposed vertically spaced stationary supports, individual wallpanels mounted forwardly of and on said supports, means behind said panels adapted to coa-ct with said panels to releasably lock and reretain the panels on the supports, and means interposed between yadjacent edgesof said panels to conceal the supports and the locking and retaining nieansfrom view from the fronts of said panels.

5. The combination with an inner wall having horizontally disposed vertically spaced supports extending outwardly therefrom, of an outer wall comprising a plurality of panels mounted on said supports, locking devices on said inner wall having movable latches adapted to be actuated from the fronts of said panels, and means on said panels adapted to be engaged by said latches, when actuated to latching position, said latches being arranged to lock and retain said panels in position on the supports.

6. The combination with an inner wall having horizontally disposed vertically spaced supports extending outwardly therefrom, of an outer wall comprising a plurality of panels mounted onsaid supports, devices on said inner wall having movable latches adapted to be actuated from the fronts of said panels, means on said panels adapted to be engaged by said latches, when actuated to latching position, said latches being disposed to lock and retain said panels in position on the supports, and means interposed between adjacent edges of said panels to conceal said supports and devices from view from the fronts of the panels.

7. The combination with an inner wall having horizontally disposed verticallyV spaced supports extending outwardly therefrom, of an outer wall comprising a plurality of panels mounted on said supports, locking devices on said inner wall, there being at least two devices for each panel, said devices each having a movable latch, one of said devices being located behind one edge of a panel and another of said devices being located behind the opposite edge of the same panel, a latch keeper formed in each of said panel edges adapted to receive the latch associated therewith, said latches being actuatable from the fronts of the panels,

to and from lockingpositions.

8. A concealed locking and retaining device for holding wall panels in position in front of a structure to be concealed, coniprising' spaced stationary guides adapted to be secured to a wall and a. latch inovably disposed therebetween, said latch having, a

flange disposed outwardly from said wall and parallel to the panel, adapted to engage a recess in an edge or" the panel, said flange being; so shaped and positioned that it may Y be actuated to or from latching position by means ot a tool, adapted to be inserted between adjacent panel edges, from the fronts thereof.

9. A concealed locking and retaining device for holding wall panels in position in front orn a. structure to be concealed, cornprising spaced stationary guides secured to said walls and a latch lnovably disposed therebetween, said latch having a tlange disposed outnf'ardly from said wail and parallel to thepanel, adapted to engage a recess in an edge of the panel, said {iange being so shaped and positioned that it inay be actuated to or from latching position by means of a tool adapted to be inserte-d between adjacent panel edges from the fronts thereof, and means for limiting` the nioveinent of said latch in respect to said `guides.

In testimony7 whereof, l have hereunto subscribed nay name this 4th day orn May,

ARTHUR H. WILKNS. f

CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,898,026. February 21, 1933.

ARTHUR H. WILKINS.

ll ic hereby certified that error appears in the minted spccifcationof the above :iumbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 4, line l, claim 7, after "latch" inscri the words "of the devicc"; and that the said Letters Patcnt should be read with his correction therein that the same may conform to the rcord of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 25th day 0f April, A. 1933.

M. Y J. Moore,

(Seal) Acting Commisaioiicr af Paents. 

